Posted on 06/06/2004 12:25:13 AM PDT by My Dog Likes Me
Essay by Dan Rather, read at the very end of a CBS News special report, on the evening of June 5, 2004.
--- "President Reagan led the West in a decisive hour of a long battle for the survival of Western culture, Western ideas and ideals.
He was a son of the West. Born in the American Mid-West, he grew to full manhood and died in its far West. All of his life, he favored the West Wind.
He dressed the part, acted it, spoke it, and lived it. The Reagan presidency began on the front steps of the Capitol. His inaugural ceremony the first in history facing West, toward the Mall and its monuments.
His letter of November 5, 1994, announcing his Alzheimers, poignant, yet devoid of self-pity, tells us he was once again looking West. But, Ronald Wilson Reagan also could not resist one more look back over his shoulder.
He now makes his final ride, confident in the knowledge that, as he wrote, "For America, there will always be a bright dawn ahead."
May we share his optimism. And may his steed hold steady as he completes his journey. We will think of him always, when the West Wind blows." -----
However,the story of winning the Cold War would be told much better if they included the short clip when he called the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire". There is a good reason that the media, who really don't like telling the truth, and people who do, refrain from showing this clip, which would be excellent in telling in a quick clip just how the Cold War was won.
Andrea Mitchell was asked last night if President Reagan deserves credit for ending the cold war. She stated that yes, President Reagan did win the cold war. There was no hesitation in her answer nor any attempt to downplay it.
And, during his speech at the Brandenburg Gate where he admonished Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!".
"At any rate, when he does cry, I think it's all about him."
I totally agree. I think it was a case where Dan, whose career was largely intertwined with Reagan's ascension, saw his own mortality. The tears were about him realizing that he, too, will die one day – but in his case nobody will give a sh!t. That’s what he was choking on.
As people grow older, they are more prone to tears. I don't know why, but I have observed it frequently.
That should change in a couple of days.
I agree Dan Rather can shed all the crocodile tears he desires. I still say he's a Democrat Party Operative masquerading as a "journalist".
I absolutely agree -- to do less, as you put it, is more like the Dem attitude that booed Trent Lott and other Republicans at the Wellstone funerally.
Decent people grasp the solemnity of death; there is probably always a bit of "Ask not for whome the bell tolls" in it, but just because it may be passing doesn't mean it's not sincere while it lasts.
I think Dan rather does not like Reagan and conservatives, but is enough of an American to respect the office, and is sincere in his mourning of a passing of a President.
And he is a Marine, so I give Rather the benefit of the doubt.
With your permission, I would like to spread it around to folks I know.
yeah...he was genuinely upset that he had to actually read something in favor of Reagan...
He's a crying shame.
Yes, I would agree with that. I do however see the sex problems and other issues as very revealing of his character. Any man who would treat his family as bad as this man did, would be capable of just about anything, which is what you have referenced. Remember, he was cheating on Chelsea as well, and constantly.
All the best.
D1
For professionals, I am not impressed by Rather, Jennings and Brokaw. I don't think they see themselves as we do. I think they travel in rarified circles that leaves them with the impression that they reflect what America is. In reality, these folks have no connection to reality.
They trounce our values. They belittle our heros. They essentially aid and abet the enemies of our nation, our ideals and our citizens. Oblivious, they move ever forward toward a socialist ideal.
Perhaps this a-hole did mean it when his eyes glazed over. Perhaps for one brief moment he did realize what a sad day this was. None the less, for the remainder of the week he'll talk about Iran Contra and exclaim how much Reagan and Clinton's presidencies were alike, each enduring their own scandles.
Reagan's scandle was that he tried to free up one nation from communism, and protect another from communism, both major insults to the socialist left amongst us. Clinton's scandle was that he couldn't get enough ass unless he wasn't where he should have been, in the family quarters. No Dan, these administrations WERE NOT ALIKE.
God how I detest Rather and the remaining two of the socialist triplets that round out the major network's evening news offerings.
Rather lost me as a viewer when he picked apart a Reagan speech Before the President had delivered it. ( That was one day before we went into Grenada)
Crocodile tears by the media. They did the same for a while after 9/11, then forgot all the lessons and went back into hate mode. They'll do the same w/ Reagan when they feel the coast is clear. You don't crap on someone their entire life, then act like they were your best friend. That is not class, it's treachery. F them, F them all. Reagan wouldn't say that, but I will.
Well, too bad that when Reagan was actually fighting those battles for freedom ol Dan was there dogging him and opposing him every step of the way. Maybe if he gets up there some day and apologies for all the damage he's done, and is STILL doing, I may reconsider my opinion of him.
These are not grown-ups. They are 60's mental midgets who still dispise maturity and steadfastness, live in the world of popularity seekers and maintain no vision for the children within our nation. They are unfamiliar with 'grit', unable to understand the blessings and sacrifices freedom brings and demands, unable to understand that the glory of America is not found in incessant pandering, but in her strength and the remarkable and amazing and awesome way America uses her might.....instead, they hang their heads and rue our might, calling us bullys, thriving in tearing us down, in sparking division and in dis-spiriting our nation.
As aloha ronnie often says--THEY are the enemy WITHIN. And they are our press corp. Oh that they were able to see themselves as we see them.
speaking of Peggy Noonan, where is she? I haven't heard any words from her.
I don't think his reaction was contrived at all.
No, but I think with Rather, like so many show business types, it is merely an expression of generalized sentimentality.
He was simply emoting with the words, not responding to feelings toward the person about whom the words had been written. For him, it could have been about anybody.
Rather had no love for Reagan, nor would he have for any man of integrity. Remember how he defended Clinton, saying you could habitually lie all over the place and still be an honest man? That's the kind of slime that tugs at Rather's heartstrings.
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